WATCH: Jail sex party as max-security lags get steamy with naked strippers

STRIPPERS gyrate naked in front of nearly 200 admiring males in these amazing scenes filmed INSIDE a maximum-security jail.

By Gerard Couzens

Inmates at tough Izalco Jail in El Salvador wrote to prison chiefs asking for permission for a disco and a show by a female dance group so they could celebrate a famous south American religious festival in style.

But the footage taken by a prisoner on his mobile showed the women dancers were the sort you find in so-called gentlemen’s clubs, not ballet classes.

The video, which has surfaced on social media sites in the past few days, is now causing a headache for government officials who have promised to investigate.

Prisons Minister Rodil Hernandez has been quick to shift the blame onto his predecessor Nelson Rauda, insisting the controversial party took place in September 2012.

STEAMY: The strippers danced in front of nearly 200 admiring males

The official request to stage the party, sent by then-prison chief Jose Abarca on behalf of inmates to the country’s former Prisons Director, has also been leaked to local press.

It shows how they asked for permission for cells to remain open all day to mark Virgin of Mercy Day, celebrated through the Spanish-speaking world, before the raucous party.

One of the men sat on the ground near to the strippers has his entire face and forearms covered with tattoos, an unmistakeable sign he belongs to one of the dangerous gangs or maras that El Salvador’s prisons are filled with.

Another inmate can be heard shouting: “Dance, dance, come here, don’t worry no-one’s going to touch you” as three women end up naked in the prison patio, lapdancing on the wolf-whistling men’s laps.

The 41-second video is understood to have been found on a phone confiscated from a criminal gang member as part of a separate investigation.

JAIL: The video is now causing a headache for government officials

KINKY: Inmates asked for dancers to celebrate a famous south American religious festival

The celebration has already been dubbed the Izalco Pornoparty.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman confirmed in a statement: “Following the publication of a video showing a party at Izalco Jail, the Head of the Prisons Service has ordered an internal investigation to clarify what happened and hold those responsible accountable.

“We are currently awaiting the results of that investigation.”

Patricia Valdivieso, an MP for the opposition ARENA party, said: “We don’t know if these women were forced or threatened to perform and how many of these types of parties there’ve been.

“The video shows there’s even a prison officer enjoying himself at the party and that can’t be tolerated.

INMATES: The video is understood to have been found on a confiscated phone

“And it goes without saying that if it happened at this prison, it could have happened at others.”

One local complained on Facebook: “So this is how people in our country pay for their crimes!”

Another added: “The real tragedy is that honest law-abiding citizens in this country get crucified by taxes while these idiot criminals enjoy themselves.”

Prisons in some south American countries are famed for their policies of letting inmates do whatever they like inside jail except escape.

Last month prisoners at a maximum-security jail on a holiday island in Venezuela, terrified tourists by firing guns from the roof of their jail in a noisy send-off to a murdered crime boss.